RAGBRAI 2021 Trip Report

RAGBRAI 2021

I rode RAGBRAI: 460 miles, 10161 feet of climb, 7 days. Distances, times, and climb amounts are taken from my GPS head unit.

RAGBRAI 2021

Day -2

I left work and drove as far west as I could, with an overnight stay near Dayton. 

Day -1

I drove to Clinton Iowa, which was the end town. I turned my bike in to the charter and proceeded to a hotel in Moline, Illinois. 

Day 0

In the morning, I drove to long term parking in Clinton and took a shuttle bus to the charter pickup site. There I boarded a bus to Le Mars, which was the start town. I pitched my tent with the other charter campers in O'Toole Park and then strolled through the expo. 

Day 1

86.35 miles, 2425 feet of climb, 5:58 moving time, Le Mars to Sac City. I didn't sleep well in the heat and eventually gave up trying to sleep and got up early, packed my stuff, put it on the truck, and started riding before sunrise. 

Soon I was in a long stream of other riders heading out of town in the predawn darkness. There were lots of riders, lots of blinking bike lights, and the sunrise while riding through the corn fields was pretty cool. Because of my Iceland trip, I was well-rested and felt good on the bike. I didn't even stop until 36 miles in at a pass through town. I only stopped because I forgot to eat before departing Le Mars and I was afraid I might bonk. By mile 60 it was hot and I was tired. About mile 64 I heard an awful noise. I eventually got close enough to see that it was a few ice cream machines, at least one of which was manufactured by John Deere. I stopped and had Beekman's ice cream. It was wonderful. 

I finished the ride to Sac City with an awful thigh cramp right as I arrived in town. I pulled off the road in such an abrupt turn that a TV crew guy asked me if I was all right. After that cramp passed, I found the charter camp site at Riverside Park. This is when I discovered the benefit of that early departure: I arrived among the very first campers, meaning I had the opportunity to pitch my tent before everyone else, meaning I picked one of the few spots with shade. I arrived shortly after noon. Riders kept arriving until early evening. I pitched my tent, found the shower truck for a wonderful shower, walked to town to get dinner from a street vendor, and returned to camp. The camp site filled up. It's next to a cemetery. Several people pitched their tents in the cemetery. 

RAGBRAI 2021 Day 1

Day 2

67.39 miles, 1014 feet of climb, 4:30 moving time, Sac City to Fort Dodge. After another early departure, it was an easy day compared to that long day 1. Again I arrived early to the camp ground along the Des Moines River (Sunkissed Meadows Disc Golf Course) in Fort Dodge. Conventional wisdom says day 2 is the hardest because of soreness from day 1. I actually felt pretty good. I pitched my tent in the shade, got a chair from the charter, sat in the shade, and made a friend, and spent all afternoon/evening BSing. I found that when I pitch my tent in the shade, I quickly get new neighbors. The charter offered dinner so I stayed in camp. 

RAGBRAI 2021 Day 2

Day 3

55.48 miles, 787 feet of climb, 3:39 moving time, Fort Dodge to Iowa Falls. After a relatively short ride to Iowa Falls, I reached the camp ground in Assembly Park. This park has a lot of trees and is surrounded by homes. It was a short walk to find dinner in town by crossing the Swinging Bridge. The park is small so it got pretty crowded by the time everyone arrived and pitched their tents. I started to feel like I was getting the hang of this. By this time I had learned to hang around the canopies that the charter service sets up while waiting for the baggage truck to be unloaded. It's a great way to relax after the ride and make friends.

RAGBRAI Day 3

Day 4

66.49 miles, 1214 feet of climb, 3:58 moving time, Iowa Falls to Waterloo. The forecast was for very hot weather. It wasn't quite as hot as forecast, but still very hot. I arrived in Waterloo and found the campground with no shade to be had. This was easily the most uncomfortable day and evening and night of the trip. I found a spot at the edge of the park (grassy area next to Fairview Cemetery) that eventually got some shade and pitched my tent. Nearby options for dinner were pretty sparse; I ate at the nearby baseball field concession. Because I had some shade, my spot suddenly got really popular with other campers. Several people pitched their tents near mine and I made new friends as we sat and chatted into the evening. We watched as some people camped in the cemetery and then were evicted. I sweated all night and heard trains all night. The fan was a wonderful luxury that provided a little relief on a hot, humid night. The weather forecast called for thunderstorms so I had to put my rain fly on the tent. In the middle of the night I heard some drops hit my tent but that lasted only a few minutes.

RAGBRAI Day 4

Day 5

83.74 miles, 1939 feet of climb, 5:04 moving time,Waterloo to Anamosa. After that hot, miserable night, I was eager to get moving. This was another long ride on a hot day. I paid another visit to Beekman's. The camp site was at the baseball fields on Cemetery Road in Anamosa and there was no shade to be had. I had dinner in a Lutheran Church basement with another new friend. The food was OK; the air conditioning was fantastic.

RAGBRAI Day 5

Day 6

65.19 miles, 1716 feet of climb, 4:42 moving time, Anamosa to Dewitt. I was expecting an easy day with cooler temperatures in the forecast. Silly me. The ride to Dewitt had a strong headwind almost the whole way. By this time, my ass was sore and I was feeling every expansion joint. And part-way through the ride, my rear derailleur stopped shifting into the smallest cogs. I arrived worn-out at the camp site at Ekstrand Elementary School. Once again there was no shade to be had but at least the temperature was finally comfortable and the sky was overcast. I visited the bike mechanic. He discovered a frayed cable that he replaced to get my shifting working again. The cable would have snapped before much longer. I walked with a friend to the middle of town to get dinner. There was a band playing in camp that evening. Stairway to Heaven, when played on a saw, sounds awful.

RAGBRAI Day 6

Day 7

35.39 miles, 1066 feet of climb, 2:17 moving time, Dewitt to Clinton. It was an easy ride on a cool morning. I reached the wheel dip point, dipped my front wheel, and rode to my car, which I reached before 8AM. I put my bike in the car, met the baggage truck by 10AM, then headed home, arriving about 1:30AM the next day. 

RAGBRAI Day 7

Impressions

• My training prepared me physically for the mileage.
• I probably should try a different saddle if I ever do anything like this again: my ass hurts.
• It was uncomfortably hot most days. It never really cooled off overnight.
• The pass-through towns were not busy, probably because I got there so early. Most of the time I rode through before they even set up for riders. It was never so busy that I had to dismount.
• Most of the towns were stingy with water. I was expecting many of the towns to have free-flowing water for cyclists to refill bottles. Instead, I’d guess fewer than 1/4 of the towns had free-flowing water, seemingly trying to get riders to buy bottled water.
• I hate expansion joints now. They were painful on my sore ass.
• It never rained on me. Two thunderstorms passed very close but missed me.
• In the small overnight towns, the cellular service gradually degraded throughout the day as more riders arrived and overwhelmed the network. Eventually the cellular service was unusable.
• The rider population seemed dominated by middle-aged white guys. While I definitely saw a mixture of women and people of color and people of all ages, they were a distinct minority.
• The charter service provided several generators that powered rows of power strips. Every day there were hundreds of devices plugged in. I usually just charged my large battery then charged my other devices from the battery. This was another advantage of an early arrival in camp: I never had trouble finding an available outlet.
• Every town has train tracks and every night, trains passed through, and every engineer used the horn. A lot. Especially in Waterloo, on that hot humid night, it seemed like there was a train every hour.

Charter Service

• I had to have transportation from the end town to the start town. I researched several charters and selected Brancel. Given that I was using their bus service, I opted to also use their camp sites.
• The charter service selected camp sites away from the main camp ground. I liked this because it was quiet.
• The charter service offered a shower service, which was nearby and convenient, and I used it.
• The charter service always had tents/canopies and chairs and generators set up. These were welcome after a hot day of riding.
• The charter service had coolers full of soft drinks, sports drinks, water, and beer for purchase.
• The charter service provided a truck onto which I placed my baggage every morning. The big down side of leaving so early every morning is that my bags were among the first on the truck, which meant they were also the last to come off the truck.
• The charter service had lots of air pumps. I topped my tire inflation off every evening.
• If I ever do this ride again, I'll use Brancel again. They were a very good crew.

What I Packed

• Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, sleeping pad, army poncho liner (blanket). I never used the sleeping bag because it was too hot. I used the sleeping bag liner and poncho liner.
• Cycling clothes, each day’s set of clothing in its own plastic bag.
• Cycling rain jacket, vest.
• Street clothes, shorts, t-shirts, sandals, flip-flops.
• Towel, shower items, toothbrush and toothpaste.
• Bike, helmet, cycling shoes, heart rate monitor, gloves, sunglasses, bike computer.
• Spares, tube, CO2, grease, chain lubricant, multitool, Swiss Army knife.
• Cash because the vendors didn’t take credit cards.
• Battery powered fan, this was wonderful on those hot humid nights.
• Snacks were great to have for a quick shot of calories, especially because I started so early each day that the vendors were usually not open yet as I rode through towns.
• Luka tape that protected the raw skin on my sore ass.
• Headlamp that was especially useful when going to a kybo aka port a potty in the dark.
• Reading glasses, headphones, smart phone.
• Large rechargeable battery, charging cables, 110 adapter.

My Daily Routine

• Wake up (usually around 4:30AM without an alarm because I couldn't sleep any longer)
• Go to a kybo (there were always lines by 5AM), grab a wagon to haul my luggage to the truck
• Eat, drink, even though I was neither hungry nor thirsty
• Pack tent away, pack bags, take them to truck, pulling the wagon with my stuff in it, weaving my way through tents in the dark as most people were still sleeping
• Start riding, usually around 5:30AM, always discovering hundreds of other riders already on the road ahead of me even though the official start time was 6AM
• Ride, ride, ride, stop to eat, drink, refill water bottles when possible, ride some more
• Arrive at the overnight town, find campground, pick a spot to pitch my tent (hopefully in the shade), mark the spot by putting my bike there, usually I was among the first 3 arrivals
• Relax under the canopies, drink sports drinks, BS with other riders
• Wait for baggage truck unload: because I was always among the first people out of camp, my bags were always among the last to come off
• Pitch tent in the spot that I had claimed by putting my bike and a chair there
• Go to shower truck, shower, change into wear clean dry clothing
• Plug rechargeable devices into power, BS with other riders
• Go find dinner
• Pack up for next day, pump tires, fill water bottles, put water and food out to consume first thing in the morning
• BS with other riders until dark
• Try to sleep in a hot, humid tent
• Repeat…

What I Would Do Differently

• Find a better way to handle loose cash and credit/ATM cards. I kept stuffing them wherever it was convenient at the time.
• Bring a bathing suit. Several riders used a local public pool instead of the shower truck.
• Bring more street clothes. I underestimated how quickly my clothing got really smelly because I would get sweaty again after my shower.
• Comprehensive bike inspection before the trip. I cleaned, inspected, lubricated before the trip, but did not find the frayed rear derailleur shifter cable. I got lucky that it only partially failed.
• Find a better way to carry my phone. It’s a large iPhone that does not fit in my top tube bag, so I put it in my under-seat bag, which is not very handy for grabbing my phone. I should have taken more pictures but didn’t because the phone just wasn’t as accessible as it should have been.
• Hang a small bottle with hand sanitizer under my seat. Hang a second bottle with sun screen.

Update

I’ve been back from Iowa for a month plus. I don’t have a lot of cycling jerseys. The ones that I have are plain. But I did indulge in a RAGBRAI jersey and I’ve taken several rides on the W&OD trail. Usually I wear that RAGBRAI jersey. Every time, I’ve had strangers, other riders or joggers:

• Yell, “RAGBRAI!”
• Roll up alongside me and ask about RAGBRAI
• Tell me, “I rode RAGBRAI!”